What joy today as we blessed the renovated organ, and sang our hearts out (with lots of help from the Bells of St. Paul and the Adult Choir). Cantate, of course, celebrates the Church's song and so today we sang out the joy of the Gospel:
"Now All the Vault" as Entrance Hymn
"Praise to the Lord, the Almighty" as Choir Anthem
"Dear Christians, One and All Rejoice" - ALL the verses - responsively between congregation and choir (especially for Ruth!)
"I am Trusting You, Lord Jesus", "Sing Praise to God, the Highest Good" and "Come, Let Us Join Our Cheerful Songs" during distribution of the Holy Sacrament
"He is Arisen! Glorious Word!" for the concluding hymn**
The joy of Christ's resurrection victory overflows in those hymns! My all time favorite stanza is from "Dear Christians":
God said to His beloved Son:
"It's time to have compassion.
Then go, bright jewel of My crown,
And bring to all salvation.
From sin and sorrow set them free;
Slay bitter death for them that they
May live with You forever!"
What a comforting and glorious picture of God the Father!
Diane gave us a Bach prelude and a Manz recessional. From start to finish, it was overflowing joy in song. Sorta makes me wish EVERY Sunday were Cantate Sunday. :)
This afternoon was wonderful as well - we decided to forgo the congregation's softball game and all of us (Cindi and me, the three kids, and Dave and Jo) played a game of liverpool, grilled out for dinner (Cindi served up two kinds of steak, brats, hot dogs, hamburgers, grilled asparagus, grilled squash and onion, fresh tomato and onion, strawberries and grapes - and we did quite a job on it), and then finished up with a game taboo. Lauren won the liverpool, but the gentlemen won the Taboo - BARELY.
**If you haven't had the joy yet of Lutheran Service Book Hymn Selection Guide, you want to! It makes the planning of the hymns for these Sundays a snap, and you'll love the way that the hymns tie together with the lectionary readings for various series (A, B, C, and Historic)
6 comments:
"Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice" is such an AWESOME hymn -- a much superior hymn to the very overrated "A Mighty Fortress", IMO.
Dear Anon,
Yes indeed! I think Luther never wrote a better hymn - and the melody is a perfect match. "Dear Christians One and All" is the hymn that TELLS the wondrous story of Jesus and His love and doesn't just talk about telling it!!!
The verse you printed (v.5 - LSB) has been, at least for me, the most comforting and Gospel-filled verse in the entire hymnal. Many hymns (those that even bother getting to the Gospel story) make it seem as though Christ's coming was something He did of His own accord, as though the Father merely permitted Him to come. Instead, Luther emphasized that it was certainly the Father's will for the Son to come and suffer for the good of His people.
Congratulations on singing the entirety of "Dear Christians One and All Rejoice." If you could only have one hymn, that would be the one. You can live and die by that one.
Dittos on the Hymn Selection Guide for LSB. I especially appreciate the large number of hymn selections offered for each week. It's a great resource.
Bettler,
EXACTLY the reason I love it. It shows that those who would caricature Lutherans the West in general for only speaking the Gospel via vicarious satisfaction are ignoring a vital part of the proclamation. It would be like taking Luther's Passion homilies and cutting out his resurrection sermons.
William,
Amen! That hymn is truly the greatest that came from Luther's pen. It is the Lutheran Confession of the Christian faith in 10 stanzas of rimed verse.
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